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To: RealMuLan who wrote (21626)	7/24/2002 3:06:28 PM
From: smolejv@gmx.net	Respond to of 74559

Hi Yiwu: 15-20 years is rather optimistic, Id say. Anyhow, by that time all the baby boomers will probably (at 5-7% a year and 40K avge as of now in retirement benefits) have enough to retire (sg). dj

To: RealMuLan who wrote (21626)	7/24/2002 10:39:05 PM
From: AC Flyer	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 74559

Yiwu: The social security situation is misunderstood by many and is endlessly exploited for political gain. There is no social security trust fund in the sense that there is no money set aside with the names of individual taxpayers attached to it. The government meets its social security obligations year to year from current year revenues. In other words, each year's social security payments come right out of the pockets of US taxpayers. The whole idea of a social security crisis was manufactured by the Democrats - this was Bill Clinton's most brilliant political stroke - as a club with which to beat the Republicans. They have been aided and abetted in this by the media, who just love this story - it plays to everyone's deepest fear of being old and destitute. The reality is that the so-called social security crisis disappears with a stroke of a pen by making very minor changes in the various underlying assumptions regarding the inflation rate, economic growth rate, starting age of eligibility for social security, etc. Far from there being a crisis, the US is better positioned to support its retirees in 2020 than almost any other developed country, due to its relatively youthful demographics and more importantly to ongoing immigration. The only scandal connected with social security imo is that, right now, the government collects far more in social security taxes than it pays out. The bottom line is that politicians love taxes and if we let them they'll spend every cent of our money regardless of the label attached to it.